Combine all vegetable ingredients and bacon, add water if necessary (half a cup at a time), heat to boiling, lower flame, and cook 10-15 minutes. Serve immediately or add pasta and cook an additional minute.

Try any smoked cheese in place of the ham in the soup... add it at the last minute. (Parmesan rinds are classic in minestrone, for instance.)

I utterly detest liquid smoke but I've found a substitute I'm really happy with -- it's smoked Spanish paprika, where the peppers are smoked over oakwood fires for several days (weeks?). It's not particularly easy to find -- The Spanish Table in Seattle and Berkeley stocks the El Rey brand that's my favorite, and it comes hot, bittersweet or sweet. This is not the nearly tasteless paprika folks dust on deviled eggs... the hot especially has a nice bite to it, and lots of layers of flavor. That said, I tend to use a mixture of all three to get the bite and smokiness to the level I want for a particular dish. The Spanish name for "smoked paprika" is "Pimenton de la Vera". I first "met" it in a Hungarian restaurant in Canada-- my husband and I spent a whole meal trying to figure out how the lovely smokiness had gotten into the chicken paprikas -- we'd pretty much decided on smoked mushrooms when the chef/owner told us about Pimenton de la Vera. (And by the way, mushroom paprikas is killer when made with pimenton.)

Melt chocolate and butter or margarine together. Beat eggs till foamy;add sugar, then melted chocolate mixture to eggs while continuing to beat.Stir in rest of ingredients. Bake at 325 degrees F in an 8" greased, flouredpan for approximately 30 min. Recipe can be doubled for a 13x9" pan.This is a fairly fudgey, intense brownie -- the recipe is about 60 yearsold, and still a favorite.

1. Adjust oven rack to upper middle position and heat oven to 450. Line rimmed baking sheet with foil. With fingers, open whole tomatoes over strainer set in bow and push out seeds, allowing juices to fall through strainer into a bowl. Spread seeded tomatoes in a single layer on foil. Sprinkle evenly w/ brown sugar. Bake until all liquid has evaporated and tomatoes begin to color , about 3 0 minutes. Let tomatoes cool slightly, then peel them off foil. Transfer to small bowl and set aside.

3. (Note: I use an immersion blender here, instead! )Pour mixture through strainer and into medium blow; rinse saucepan. Transfer tomatoes and solids in strainer to blender. Add 1 cup strained liquid and puree until smooth. Place pureed mixture and remaining strained liquid in saucepan. Add cream and warm over low heat until hot, about 3 minutes. Off heat, stir in brandy and season to taste with salt and cayenne pepper. Serve immediately or refrigerate in an airtight container for up to two days. Warm over low heat until hot; do not boil.

I've made a very similar recipe to the tomato soup, substituting vegetarian broth for the chicken stock, and boosting the umami flavor component with sauteed mushrooms. Quite good if I do say so myself. The vegetarian I made it for wouldn't eat it... swore there was beef stock in it.